“This is for the second week of January. Let me thumb through it.” She set the folder on the counter and flipped the pages. “Ah, here we go.” She set the stapled agreement in front of Eric.
He leaned in to read it over. No name, but there was a signature on the bottom line. It was barely decipherable, but it looked familiar. He pulled out his phone and compared it to Kramer’s signature that Sandra had sent him yesterday. Perfect match.
His phone rang, and Medina’s name splashed on the screen. At the same time, a customer entered the store.
“Can I take this with me?” Eric asked Carly.
“Sure, not a problem at all. It’s ancient, and technically I should have thrown it out a long time ago.”
Thank God she didn’t…He gave Carly a thumbs-up and answered his phone.
FORTY-FOUR
11:30 AM
They had their warrant, and Medina was having an officer bring in Dale Kramer for questioning. Eric walked inside the Ship It Etcetera storefront feeling confident.
The young man at the front desk, somewhere in his late twenties or early thirties, smiled at Eric. “Welcome to Ship It Etc. What can I ship or print for you today?”
Why do companies make their employees greet people like this?“Nothing today. I have a warrant here.” Eric held the paperwork out for him, but the clerk shook his head.
“I trust you.”
Eric tucked the paperwork into his back pocket and asked where he could find the safe deposit boxes.
The clerk pointed toward the back of the store.
“Thanks.”
“Uh-huh.”
Eric came to a wall of boxes and searched for 3235. He spotted it and stuck the key Levine had left him into the slot.
“There’s a room over there if you want privacy,” the clerk said while nudging his head to the corner where there was an open bifold door.
“Unnecessary, but thanks anyway.” Eric was prepared with a large evidence bag to take the contents of the box with him, but there was just one large manila envelope curled to fit inside. He grabbed it and locked the box again. On the way out, he waved to the clerk, but he was too caught up playing on his cell phone to notice.
Eric got the car running and unsealed the envelope. His fingers felt fat as he shoved them inside, nerves getting to him.All the evidence you need is inside…
He pulled out an officer’s notebook. He flipped it open and recognized his mentor’s handwriting.
The only notes in the book were dated the day of Susan Crawford’s crash. There were more than the three eyewitnesses that were noted in the digital crash report summary, though that wasn’t uncommon. What flagged more was the difference in their statements.
Eric read the first few.
Statement #1:
Wtn: Karen Reeves
Witnessed from office window and came forward. States she saw a white cargo van, Chevy, didn’t catch plate, run into the driver’s side door of the Cavalier sedan.
Heard crunching of metal and the sedan was pushed into a pole.
The van fled the scene. Described hit-and-run driver as having brown hair, large build.
Weather was clear, daylight, good visibility, some snow and slush on the road, nothing hazardous.
Wtn states “I saw all of this clear as day.”
